The Taizé community is an ecumenical monastic order located in the Burgundy region of France. It was founded in 1940 by Brother Roger Schutz, and has become one of the world’s most important sites of Christian pilgrimage. Over 100,000 young people from around the world come here every year, where they are encouraged to live out their lives in the spirit of kindness, simplicity and reconciliation.

Norm and Jane have visited and led groups of people to Taizé on several occasions to experience the beauty and sacredness of this place.

Together they facilitate Taizé style prayer for church and other groups interested in this meaningful experience.

To learn more and/or to listen to the music of Taizé, go to: www.taize.fr

To read more about our experiences in Taizé, go to “Our Writings–Spirituality,”

To find out about our workshops or Taizé style prayer, contact nking@uwindsor.ca

A Choir Journey

The first words of the Rule of St. Benedict invite us to “listen with the ears of the heart.” To be truly good singers we must first listen to and then sing from the heart–our inner spirit of love. Just as love allows us to share and heal the hurts, disappointments, and sadness of our lives, so too, we may go to places of joys remembered, felt anew, and enriched by their sharing in the present. Such has been this choir’s journey from the loss of Lorraine King, their dedicated and much loved leader of many years, to finding a renewed community voice under the direction of Jane Ripley.

Lorraine King, wife of Norman King, was an accomplished and sensitive musician. She was a professional accompanist and also taught music both privately and in the school system. She dedicated most of her life’s work to liturgical music, serving for over forty years as music director of Christ the King Church until her death in 2011. Several members of the galley choir had the privilege of serving for many years in music ministry under her direction.

Gil Grossutti is a well known flute, clarinet, and saxophone musician. He had a longstanding musical career playing for professional entertainers and productions. For many years, he conducted the Windsor Light Opera orchestra and taught music at the secondary school level and as a private teacher. The choir has been so grateful to Gil for his accompanying talent and improvisiational skill.

Jane Ripley is the current director of the Gallery Choir, as well as pianist and organist at Corpus Christi Church. She has worked with many church and community choirs, but has found her work with this choir to be a particularly sacred task and marvellous gift. She is grateful for Lorraine King, who was a dear friend and fellow musician with whom she shared a similar perspective on liturgical music. Jane is profoundly aware of the power of music to express a genuine spirituality and faith and to bring people together in community. Learn more about Jane’s Music Studio.

Fr. James Roche, of Corpus Christi Church, was a vital support to the production of the choir CD, Rain Down, which in his words was made “to honour yesterday, to celebrate today, and to open new ways to praise God.”

To listen to excerpts from the Gallery Choir recording, go to: www.dol.ca under music “touching the spirit.”

Mission

The Inter-Faith Group of Windsor and Essex County seeks to foster a deeper understanding and respect for our various faith traditions and world views, and for the fundamental values of humanity they proclaim, such as human dignity and human rights. It seeks also to strengthen our interpersonal relationships and communal harmony, while expressing our religious and cultural individualities.

See us on Facebook: Inter-Faith Group of Windsor and Essex County

For more information, contact: Norman King: nking@uwindsor.ca

Dr. Norman King,
Principal, Director of Education

While honouring our United Church roots, Iona College has chosen to become an ecumenical and interfaith college, with support from representatives from diverse faith communities and traditions,
and in co-operation with our partners in the Chaplaincy Network and the University of Windsor, Iona intends to continue serving university students, faculty, and staff as well as the surrounding community.

For more information go to : https://www.uwindsor.ca/ionacollege/

The Listening Centre helps people of all ages develop and improve learning, language and communication skills through a listening training program of sound stimulation, voice training, and counselling. The listening training is based on the work of Alfred Tomatis, the originator of the field of listening and sound therapy.

For more information, go to: www.listeningcentre.com